Save Money While Travelling

Business travelers can really rack up some expenses. With the economy in a slump, businesses are definitely looking for ways to save money while travelling. Use these tips to cut costs and reel in the savings.

Back in the day, you could walk into the airport and snag some great last-minute deals on flights. Not true anymore. Airlines have cut back on the number of flights that they are offering and overbooking the ones that they do. This means that as the flight fills up, the seats get more and more expensive. The earlier you book your flight the better. In general, prices go up as demand goes up.

Hotels work the same way. It is pretty rare to find a hotel these days that has a fixed room rate. As the hotel fills, the rooms that they have left become more valuable. So, it pays to reserve that room as far in advance as possible.

Renting a car is usually cheaper than using taxi service or a shuttle service. This is especially true if you’re not too picky about what type or size car you are getting. Check with your credit card companies, bank, insurance, and professional affiliations for special discounts or business rates. Additionally, you can do an online search for coupons. Many have a deal where you rent a car for a day and get the second day free. So, you could rent one car for two days, getting the second day for free, and then rent from the other company, cutting your total rental car fees in half. Another option for the city is to choose a hotel near a major public transportation hub so that you can travel cheaply wherever you need to go.

Many business travelers need to eat at restaurants when they’re travelling. If you’re entertaining business associates or clients, you’ll be eating at even pricier establishments and possibly footing the bill for the others as well. Don’t get trapped in a bad, noisy, or overpriced restaurant. Do your research before the trip. Find out where locals like to go and why they like to go there. You can often find menus online, read reviews, and budget for your meal before you even take the trip. Look for online coupons or call the restaurant and ask if they offer abbreviated menus for larger groups. Restaurants do this to simplify ordering and it often comes out cheaper.

Business travelers that travel internationally run up the highest bills. They often need a personal assistant to help them figure out where to eat, where to stay, how to get where they’re going and more. Instead of paying someone to be available 24/7, consider international mobile concierge services. For about $8/month, you can get international phone directory services and directory assistance, turn by turn directions, restaurant and hotel recommendations, weather, stock quotes, flight status, and more. Not only is it cheaper, but it’s awfully convenient when you’re in a time zone that constantly puts you in a position of needing help from your personal assistant at all hours of the night.

Save money travelling on business all year with these simple tips and you will really see a difference.

About the Author: Joe Smith is a Marketing Associate of OnCall, a leading online source of mobile concierge services that goes above and beyond traditional directory assistance. Get international personalized assistance with phone direcory information, turn by turn directions, movie times, stock quotes, sports scores, and more at http://www.askoncall.com.